Gary Galles: Paid jurors would improve justice

The California Assembly sent Gov. Jerry Brown Assembly Bill 1401, to allow noncitizen legal immigrants on juries. However, the governor has now vetoed the first such measure in the country.

Unfortunately, though, the focus of the discussion – “inclusion” of more people into jury pools – misses the central issue. As writer George Skelton noted, it is “qualifications to be a juror.”

If we focus on the quality of jury deliberations, central to dispensing dependable justice, that suggests a real reform – replacing our “draft jury” system with jurors paid what their services are worth. Paying jurors would produce real advantages.

The greatest inefficiency of current jury service is its huge waste of juror time. But with juror services essentially costless to judges and lawyers, they have little reason to reduce the waste. If jurors were paid the value of their time, they would become utilized far more effectively. Another problem is uncomfortable and unpleasant jury facilities. With drafted jurors, there is little incentive to accommodate their preferences. If they had to be recruited voluntarily, like other employees, they would be willing to work for less under more pleasant conditions, and courts would provide more juror comfort and convenience to cut their wage bill.

No-shows are another major issue which increases both costs and administrative difficulties. Courts have to guess how many draftees will actually appear, wasting many jurors' time on many days, and wasting court resources when there are too few jurors. Paid volunteers would show up, like other employees whose jobs depend on it, reducing such waste.

Underpriced jurors cause other problems. Some courts limit jurors' ability to take written notes, leading to delays, mistakes and avoidable jury room disputes over what was actually said. Similarly, jurors are often restricted in submitting questions to clarify their understanding, or to discuss the trial during breaks, causing confusion and wasted juror and court time. If jurors had to be paid their value, such time-wasting practices would be trimmed.

Paying jurors would induce jurors to become more educated on the law, evidence and procedure (the opposite of AB 1401's “reform”), reducing the chance of mistrials and the resources now ensuring jurors understand and follow the rules. Offering sufficient inducement to attract “professional” jurors would also increase incentives to be attentive and evenhanded, like mediators who wish to remain acceptable to both parties in future disputes (the opposite incentive from that faced by those who just want to finish their involuntary servitude faster). Since California's courts assert that “the duties of a juror are as important as the duties of a judge,” this is crucial.

Jurors are the only resource our justice system treats as essentially costless, though the very real costs are really “paid” by the draftees. And our current system is made slower, more wasteful and more inequitable because the costs imposed on jurors are essentially ignored as a result. Unlike adding legal immigrants to the current distorted and often dysfunctional system, a paid volunteer juror system would be real reform, bringing us closer to providing the “liberty and justice for all” that is the goal.

Gary M. Galles is a professor of economics at Pepperdine University.

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